Keeping the summer state of mind
The Dutch weather is unpredictable and often grey, rainy and chilly. But there’s no need to wait for summer, according to columnist Lukas van de Coevering. “Perhaps summer isn't something to wait for, but rather an attitude you can adopt.”
The first time I experienced a proper Dutch winter, like many others, I fell into a slump. Weeks went by without a shadow, just an endless grey ceiling with wind that cut through my layers and a constant, depressing drizzle. As an international student, this came as a shock. Back home, it was always warm. Here, cold is the norm. It made it harder to enjoy the day to day, and the mood changed. I went out less, didn’t get as excited about menial things, and even hung out less with friends.
But after a while, I noticed something interesting. Some people didn’t seem as affected by it. They still biked with energy, still made plans, still laughed in cafés like a passing storm hadn’t just soaked them. Some people even walked around in shorts in the deep of January! They hadn’t made peace with the weather; they’d just decided not to wait for it to improve.
Attitude
That’s when it clicked for me: maybe summer isn’t something to wait for, but an attitude you can choose to carry with you. I don’t mean pretending it’s sunny when it’s not or forcing a cheerful mood. I mean keeping that optimism and initiative that summer brings automatically. Learning harness that openness, spontaneity, and sense of possibility, even when the sky disagrees.
Buienradar
We tend to treat summer as a reward and winter as something to endure. But if we think like that here in the Netherlands, that means that we’ll be “enduring” for most of the year. So, next summer, I’m changing my paradigm. Hosting dinners when it’s dark at 17:00, planning small trips even if the weather’s unpredictable. Going for a run, exploring a new café, doing anything really without checking Buienradar first.
We don’t need 23 degrees and a terrace to feel alive. Perhaps a bit more initiative can help us navigate the gray of winter. It's about creating the energy we wish to receive when the world turns cold.
In a place where the weather rarely cooperates, waiting around for the “right moment” is a trap. We have to make our own momentum. Not to deny the gloom but to avoid sinking into it. The summer version of ourselves is still us; it just needs to be set free. The version of ourselves that says yes more often, that makes plans without a second thought, that smiles without needing a reason is still in there. We just have to invite it out, even if it’s wearing a raincoat.
Lukas van de Coevering is PPLE-student.
